Perk Up Half Marathon

Set for its annual late summer running among the rolling hills of southeastern Pennsylvania’s Upper Perkiomen Valley this year, which lies less than an hour’s drive north from Philadelphia, the Perk Up Half Marathon takes runners on an out-and-back tour of the country roads just outside Pennsburg, a small town that’s home to just under 4,000 residents here in the valley.

The half marathon starts at The Perkiomen School, a private school here in what’s also known as the “Upper Perk” (short for the Upper Perkiomen Valley), where just over 300 students attend each year and whose history dates back to 1875.

From the starting line at the school — which lies on Seminary Avenue, between East Greenville and Pennsburg — runners and walkers start the race with a loop through East Greenville, along 4th, Dotts, Jefferson and 6th Streets.

With the exception of some mild elevation changes, the course remains mostly flat or even heads downhill over the first few miles, which bring runners out of East Greenville and into the rural landscape just west of town, just north of Green Lane Reservoir County Park.

The course keeps runners and walkers heading roughly southwest for the next few miles — heading through the reservoir park along Church Road — and then once runners make it into Bowers Mill Road by the mid-way point of the race, the course becomes hillier.

Between mile markers 6 and 7, where the road turns from Bowers Mill onto Wild Run Road, runners hit the race’s biggest hill so far, and the hills keep coming roughly every other mile or so for the next several miles as the course leads back in the direction of East Greenville and Pennsburg, which are two of a series of small towns along Route 29. After runners pass the mile 12 marker along Church Road, the course begins flattening out again for the last mile or so back in to the finish line at the school.

As mentioned above, both runners and walkers are welcome to participate in the race, provided they can finish within the race time limit of 4 hours. Proceeds from the race also go to benefit a great cause, the National Hemophilia Foundation’s Delaware Valley Chapter in nearby Philadelphia.

Race Weather & Climate

Located in the state’s southeastern corner, just over 40 miles northwest of Philadelphia, Pennsburg typically sees its fourth-wettest month of the year in August, which has brought record temperatures here as low as 28°F (in 1987) and as high as 101°F (in 2002).

On race day (Aug. 21), the average low is 59ºF and the average high is 83ºF.